The Difference Between Him and She
by Skight
Summary: Its no secret that the Dragon Warrior and Master Tigress have completely opposite personalities, but it's even more interesting to note the differences between their reactions to the same events or challenges. A collection of one-shots exhibiting the two's different responses to same emotions. Still In-progress.
1. Chapter 1

The difference between him and she

Disclaimer: Do I have to...Fine! I don't own Kung Fu Panda, though it'd be cool if I did.

A/N: I have written before, but this is my first attempt at a fanfiction. Don't know how good I am, so I'll let you be the judge of that. Also, a little warning, I'm a bit busy as it is, so I'll probably be slow to update, but hey, at least it's something :) Also, if you want me to continue I'm going to need to see at least a little some support, like in reviews or...something. Just so I know I'm not wasting my time. Yeah, now that that's out of the way, onto the story!

_Italics_ = Thoughts

**Bold**=Title

**Training**

**Po**

"Awww, come on Master Shifu. I said I was sorry!"

"Quiet panda!" Said master barked back. "This is your consequence for waking up late... yet again."

"But don't you think this punishment is a little...I don't know...not fitting."

"You're right. Perhaps I should have you train with Tigress instead."

"NO!" Po input in a hurry. "I mean, now that you mention it, I don't really mind the obstacle course all that much."

"I knew you didn't."

The Dragon Warrior stepped forward, stared down the obstacle course before him, and froze. He had only tried it three times since his time his arrival to the palace, and he was still recovering from the scares and embarrassment of those attempts.

"_The universe is asking too much from me! Defeat the invincible Ti Lung, easy. Stop a deranged peacock from conquering China. Fine! But now the obstacle course of doom! Stupid universe. What did I ever do to you!?_"

"Come on Po! We are cheering for ya." Monkey shouted from the sidelines.

"Yeah, show that course who's boss, buddy!" Mantis encouraged.

Despite the extreme pain that Po knew he'd be facing, hearing the moral boosting words from his friends lifted his spirits. Now armed with the spirit to fight, the dragon warrior stared down into the course and began his self-pep talk.

"All right course what you got? Nothing, cause I stole it when you weren't lookin'. You think you can handle the bodacity of the Dragon Warrior. Well think again! I'm lightning. I strike so fast, you'll be like, 'ah what hit me?' And I'll be like lightening that's what, and its about to strike twice. Then you'll be like..."

"Go!" Quite exasperated by his student's foolish rant, Master Shifu decided to take the initiative to provide the "push" that Po needed to get started.

"Yuhahoooo!"

Po fell into the course unprepared but was somehow able to recover himself to properly face his old nemesis head on.

The progress in his skills were quite apparent, as he was able to adapt well to his unexpected fall and begin it like normal. The others were absolutely amazed at how well Po was doing as he was slowly able to block his way the endless swarm of wooden strikes, after wooden strike. Mantis and Monkey stared with mouths agape, unable to believe that they could very well lose the bet. Viper and Crane on the other hand were cheering their heads off, utterly exited for their friend to make it to the other side.

Tigress just stood watching with her arms crossed and an unreadable expression on her face. Truth be told, she was actually quite impressed by the progress that her comrade was exhibiting. For all of his senseless babbling and minimal training, it appeared that the dragon warrior was still able to make considerable progress after the battle with Lord Shen. An aching feeling inside of her was prompting her to be jealous of Po's progress, but surprisingly, she found that feeling to be easily overwhelmed by her pride. Not pride for herself, but for her friend. He had grown so much since his arrival in the palace, able to overcome his so many trials to reach the level he was in now. Yes, she could not help but be proud.

Tigress was so caught up in her own thoughts, that she barely noticed when the dragon warrior made it to the other side.

"Hey guys! I made it!"

"Wahooo! Way to go buddy!"

"That's our panda!"

Mantis, Monkey, and surprisingly even Master Shifu all stood staring with mouth's agape at how much better their chubby warrior had become. They really weren't expecting him to be able to make it through that easily considering his track record, but there he stood in all of his...glory.

"Hey, Monkey! Looks like like you ow me 15 almond cookies."

"*Grumble*"

"What was that? It was actually 30! Thanks for reminding me."

"Hey!"

Eventually, Shifu was able to shake off his initial shock and address Po directly.

"Well done Panda. It seems that you haven't been slacking nearly as much as you let on. Come back over and we will resume training as usual."

"No problem Master!" Po yelled back and prepared to walk around, but was stopped by Mantis' voice.

"Hey buddy! Since you did so well, why don't you go through again to come on back over."

"Yeah," Monkey added. "Shouldn't be a problem for you anymore, right?"

Overcome by confidence, Po could not help but accept the challenge. "That's right! Cause I got this course DOWN! Hold on. Be there in a se...SE...SE...ECKKKKK!"

The dragon warrior lost his footing and fell back into the course completely unprepared. Unfortunately, this time he did not quite have the mind to recover, and what followed was a repeat of the last time.

"Gyahhhhh! OUCHHH! OOHHHOOOOO! GAHAHAH!"

"Some things never change." Master Shifu muttered to herself as she watched her friend go through the torture of the course.

"Looks like you owe us those cookies back." Monkey taunted Crane with a smug grin.

"Hey, I didn't bet on this one!" Crane argued.

"Hey, this so counts!" Mantis shot back. "This is still just as much a part of his punishment."

"No way!"

"Guys!" Viper smoke trying to break them up.

"Um guys! Gyowwww! KINDA DYING HERE!" Po screamed as he was hit square on by one of the wooden warriors.

Tigress lightly shook her head at the scenes unfolding before her. With each passing scream, angry word, and useless fight that she observed, she could not but wonder to herself...

"_How could they all be the strongest warriors in the land, and yet be so...thick?_"

**Tigress**

Wood. Wood everywhere. That's all that the eye could see within the training halls of the Jade Palace. Scattered brown spickets exploding like fireworks. Po and the rest of the warriors stood watching Tigress in absolute amazement as she utterly decimated the remains of whatever obstacle course once stood before them.

It shocked Po exactly how incredible his idol really was. He had always heard rumors of her impervious Kung Fu, but seeing it up close like this, its like those exaggerated stories were lacking significant details; yet despite how godlike she appeared, he knew that even she had her limits, and considering that Tigress had been at this for a good three hours, he guess that that limit would be reached soon.

"Hey, uh, Tigress! I think the dummies have had enough." Po called out to her.

"Kiya." Said tiger did nothing to acknowledge Po's remark.

"Dude, you know there is no way Tigress is going to stop." Mantis reminded his friend.

"At least until she passes out or Master Shifu calls us." Crane added.

"But we can't just let her overdo this again." Po tried to appeal. "You remember the last time she spent this much time training."

"Hey, if you want to try and stop her, than be my guest." Monkey admonished.

"Well, I could use a little help you know."

The others took a step back and looked at Po like he was insane.

"Po, your a good friend and all, but I don't think I'm willing to die for you quite yet. At least not like this." Mantis explained.

"Come on guys. I'm serious!"

"So are we." Monkey spoke back with a blank expression on his face.

"Po, just let her have some space." Viper tried to warn.

"Yeah, Shifu isn't here to save you this time." Mantis added.

"Whatever! If you guys won't help me, then 'll just ask her myself."

Po then began to march off into the training grounds to try to get Tigress's attention.

"He's dead." Crane spoke matter-of-factly.

"Yup," Mantis agreed in the same tone. "but she is tired. Maybe she'll make it quick."

The two gave each other a quick glance before speaking simultaneously.

"Nah."

"Let's get out of here before she makes us all join her like last time. We'll be back to clean up the mess."

"Uh, boys." Viper muttered on the way out. "Stay safe Po. Tigress won't really hurt you, but still..."

Tigress herself was in such a deep trance of violence that she did not even notice Po trying to get her attention. As she continued crushing the the obstacles in front of her, Tigress increased her intensity of attacks with each passing punch.

"_Why? Why am I so weak!? Always training my heart out, yet I could not make my master proud, I could not defeat Ti Lung, and I could not even save my friend_!"

Tigress didn't even flinch as her fist collided with a metal spike and penetrated her flesh. She only moved her injured hand away and destroyed the wooden warrior that harbored her "aggressor."

"_I cannot allow my weakness to get the best of me! I will continue to refine my skills until every error becomes non existent; for my own sake...as well as those around me._"

Despite feeling absolutely exhausted, Tigress found herself increasing the intensity of her assault, barely even giving herself a chance to breathe. She crushed target after target. Her fist collided with wood, then metal, then more wood, then...a fist?

Tigress blinked in confusion when she found that her latest attack had been caught by a black and white, furry paw.

"Please don't kill me! It's just that I have been trying to get your attention for the last ten minutes so I..."

Tigress toned out the rest of Po's plea after hearing the first part. How deeply had she been into her training if she couldn't even hear her own name being called?

"and we just thought that it'd be best if..."

Finally recovering from her initial shock, Tigress removed her fist from the Dragon Warrior's grip and addressed him.

"What do you want Po?"

"Well...its just that you've been at this for hours. We just thought that it'd be a good idea to take a break, you know. Maybe take a break and grab something to eat with me and the guys." He suggested somewhat nervously.

"...go on. I will be with you shortly."

"You said that an hour ago! Come on, just..."

"I said: go ahead."

"Not without you."

The two stared each other down with narrowed eyes for several moments in a breathtaking silence before Tigress finally broke it, with a voice with even more of an edge behind it than before.

"Leave Po, unless you wish to become my training partner."

Po visibly flinched, earning a satisfied look from the Tiger. She was about to turn around to continue her training when:

"If that is what it takes to get you back."

Tigress blinked in surprise at the audacity of her comrade. He knew as well as she did that he stood no chance against her. Why was he so persistence in separating her from training? Whatever the reason, she had to keep her word.

"Very well." She addressed him, while regaining her fighting pose. "Ready?"

"Fine, but if I win you gotta take a break. Deal."

She did not respond directly to Po's question, but her nearly invisible nod was more than enough of an answer for Po. The Dragon Warrior quickly went through his inner peace dance before taking his own signature one to face his friend directly. The two stared at each other for a moment of silence before Po finally charged.

Tigress was absolutely overwhelmed by the improvements exhibited by her friend as she actually found herself struggling to hit him. She just couldn't understand it. Here she was facing the same Dragon Warrior who had would always shy away from training, who she had defeated easily at the prison, and took life as nothing but a joke; yet somehow, he was strong enough to face her. The more she thought about it, the more she realized that he was always strong enough. He was strong enough to bring peace back to the valley, to defeat Ti Lung, to protect China against Lord Shen, to face his lack of spiritual peace, and now he was strong enough to face her.

The fight did not last nearly as long as it could have. Po dodged a perfectly formed strike from Tigress before pulling in the direction she attacked, causing her to fall off balance. Po quickly capitalized on this loss of footing by attacking her with his signature belly bump. By the time she had hit the ground, Po had already placed his fist right in front of her face prompting Tigress to stare up at him in shock.

For a brief second, Po himself could not believe that he had actually won, as his eyes widened in shock as he stared down at his best friend, but that moment flew away as soon as it came. He had more important matters to look after.

"There." He slowly took his fist away from her face and continued. "Now, will you please come with us."

Tigress was at a loss of words. Despite all of her training for the last few hours, she had lost to Po of all people! The very same Panda that she easily overpowered at Chor Gom. She just could understand.

"How?" Po heard her whisper.

"Huh?"

"How are you so strong?"

Po blinked, utterly confused by what she was asking him. "Umm, what do you mean?"

"You have always been strong enough. Despite your lack of substantial training, you have always been strong enough to stop whatever threat comes our way, whatever you feel must be done. How?"

The two stared deep within each others eyes for several seemingly awkward moment before Po finally spoke.

"To be honest, I'm not entirely sure. I guess whenever I fight for something I believe in, or someone I care about, I feel like I can face the world, you know? "

Her eyes then shifted away from her friend and two the ground she was sitting on. She had always been taught that fighting with emotions was a weakness, and there was still no doubt in her mind that it was. Emotions clouded ones judgment, as was evident when Po left Shen alive to find the answers he was looking for; but could this great weakness really be the fuel behind one's strength as well?

"I don't understand."

"Like I said, neither do I, but hey! Its a journey, and you start by taking the first step." Po then offered his hand towards her. "Please, Tigress. For my sake, as well as your own."

Tigress stared at her friend's hand in wonder. To her, if she took it, it would mean more than a simple offer of help and Po knew that. It would mean turning her back on her continuous training as her means of success. It would mean putting her trust in someone other than herself, something she had avoided ever since Shifu had taken her in.

Despite all these cons, Tigress found it within her heart to smile and take the hand anyway, much to Po's joy. He then pulled her up, and, as if he had been inside of her mind the entire time, he asked. "So, uh, what made you decide?"

She then took Po off guard by suddenly throwing herself to embrace him. After seconds of awkward silence, she whispered.

"I won't have to do it alone."

After Po was released from the initial shock, he found the mind to wrap his arms around her as well.

"No...you won't."

Well, that's that. Hopefully, it won't take too long before the next update ;)


	2. Chapter 2

**Difference Between Him and She**

A/N: Thanks everyone for the support, and I will apologize outright for the wait. Life has became a bit more hectic then I originally anticipated. Thankfully, things have at least managed to fall into a schedule, so gaps this long should become non-existent. As for the story itself, this one was a lot harder to write than I originally anticipated as the subject is simple, yet the differences between the two are so vast. Eventually, I decided that splitting the two's stories altogether would probably work out for the better, especially considering the length needed for each. I'm putting the final edits on the Po side, so you can expect it within a week or two. Anyway, thanks again for reading, and I hope you enjoy this short just as, if not more than the others.

**Anger**

**Tigress**

The distinct sound of metal hitting wood was heard throughout the kitchen as Po was busily preparing the vegetables for his famous secret ingredient soup. Today, he was making an unusually large batch to take the orphaned children down in the valley. Unfortunately, for the others, this meant that they would have to wait longer than usual for them to get their food; and after a long day of training, their stomachs certainly were not happy with the situation. The Furious Five sat together around their small dining table, waiting as patiently as they could for the signature soup; but this patience was starting to wear out.

"Come on, man! How much longer?" The impatient insect complained.

"Calm down Mantis." The dragon warrior responded in between the chops of fresh vegetables. "It should only be another half hour."

"Half hour!? We'll all be starved by then!" The ravenous primate chimed in.

"Hey, I'm hungry too," Po retorted as he emptying the board of vegetables into his soup. "but I did warn you guys that it was going to take longer than usual today! Just snack on some cookies or something until."

"Ughhhh!" Crane groaned with the others in agitation.

"Just please hurry up Po." Viper commanded as politely as he could.

The panda only nodded in response before returning to his cooking. As the warrior resumed dicing the vegetable, his thoughts roamed to his idols. Po couldn't explain it, but somehow he felt that the Five had not exactly been themselves recently. They were all constantly on edge, the slightest mixups or mistakes setting them off into a roar of complaints. The only one who did not appear to act much differently was Tigress, but even she seemed to be avoiding the others a lot more than usual. Po sighed deeply at his musing. The dragon warrior was supposed to be the master of many things, but apparently, the animal psyche wasn't one of them.

As time went on, the Furious Five became more and more irascible as their empty stomachs continued to beg and scream for food. Po tried a few times to initiate conversations with his friends in order to take their minds off the hunger; but, as anticipated, he was either callously ignored or promptly insulted. In the end, the usually chippy dragon warrior deciding to remain as quiet as possible, lest he become the recipient of one of their verbal lashings.

Tigress, appeared to be the only calm warrior of the group. She sat in her chair with her arms crossed and an entirely blank expression plastered on her face. Unfortunately, looks were quite deceiving. Though she appeared calm to the others, she was actually becoming quite irritated as well. In addition to her undernourished stomach, she was silently suffering through some mild to severe injuries from an abnormally rough day of training. The tiger had attempted on multiple occasions to clear her mind of the lack of peace within herself; but between the constant battering amongst her allies and her malnourished stomach, she felt that the already extreme lack of clarity would worsen even further.

As if things were not bad already, events took a turn for the worst when Monkey and Mantis entered into an escalated argument.

"Oh yeah! You may act tough, but a cub from any species could easily crush your tiny body!" Monkey insulted as he pointed his finger at the insect across his seat.  
"Hey! I may be small, but at least I'm stronger than you, banana breath!" Mantis challenged.

"Oho! So we're playing the species card. All right then, maggot size! How about you prove it right her and now in an arm wrestle!"

"You're on noodle arms!"

"Erggghhh! Would you guys just stop it!" Viper complained.

"For once, she's right." Crane inserted, also annoyed. "This has gone on long enough you two!"

"What do you mean for once?" Viper asked angrily, only to be rudely ignored by the bird.

"Hey! He was the one who challenged me. I have to finish what he started."

"Ughhh! You two are hopeless." Viper hissed in annoyance.

The two locked hand and "thingy," ready to take the other one down for the earlier insults.

"Could you two do this some other time?" Po requested politely as he rushed to put the final ingredients into the large pot. "The food's almost ready, and I'm pretty sure we'd all like to eat more than watch you wrestle."

"No way Po! He insulted my Mantishood. Time to show him who's boss."

Amongst the increasing chaos from the arm-wrestling match, Tigress found herself losing what little composure she felt she had left. The warrior did all she could to keep herself quiet: shutting her eyes ever so tightly, digging her claws into her lap, and even clenching her predator teeth together as tightly as she could; but it was getting to become too much for the poor tiger. The others, still in their all out verbal war, even throughout the arm-wrestle, were utterly oblivious to her condition. She did find solace in the fact that Po was doing his best to quell the fighting; but simply put, the solace wasn't enough to calm her soul.

Right before the match was over, Po announced that the food was ready, to try to calm everyone down. It seemed to work quite well, as Crane, Viper, and even Tigress were able to scoot back from the edge of their seat and await their meal. Unfortunately, the prospect of food was not enough stop the argument that formed between Monkey and Mantis after the match.

"You so cheated in that arm wrestling match." Monkey accused his opponent.

"How the heck do you cheat at arm wrestling?" Mantis retorted.

"I don't know. Maybe its because YOU DIDN'T USE ANY ARMS!"

"I don't have any arms you nitwit!"

"Well, neither does Viper, and she could still beat you!"

"Don't involve me in this!" The snake hissed in agitation.

With every passing word between the two, Tigress's body grew tenser and tenser to the point where she wasn't even hiding her irritation anymore. Normally, she would have been lashed out at them for their foolish behavior; but she was so much pent up rage, that she was honestly concerned as to how she would handle the situation. So instead of reacting, she merely kept her eyes shut and tried her best to ignore all of the arguing going on around her.

"Not only am I stronger than you, but I also have skills that you could only dream of getting after years of practice." Mantis insulted.

"What, praying?" Monkey retorted smugly.

"Acupuncture, idiot!"

"See! You admit it yourself. You used your acupuncture pins to give yourself an edge."

"Grr! I'll show you how they could give me an edge."

In the blink of an eye, Mantis caught monkey off guard by throwing the tiny pin into the primates upper arm. Out of reflex, Monkey's arm convulsed, colliding with a completely oblivious Po, who just so happened to be carrying a small bowl of hot secret soup. Entirely caught off guard, the bowl fell out of Po's hands, into the air, and...into Tigress's lap.

Absolutely everyone in the kitchen froze in utter horror as the worst possible coincidence unfolded before their eyes. It was a nightmare come true, as soon as each of the other warriors finally realized how much anger their leader had been building up inside of her soul. Time froze, as all of the warriors stared in dreaded suspense at their leader, awaiting any signs of a reaction. Upon hearing a low growl from the tiger, Mantis fainted and the others lost every bit of control over their muscles from the paralyzing fear of the monster before them. The now four conscious warriors accepted their fate in choking silence, as Tigress stared down at the table before her with the rage fueled eyes of a killer. No one dared to blink, make any sort of movement, or even breathe, lest they be the first victim of her obvious wrath.

All of the remaining warriors' hearts skipped several beats as the Tiger broke the silence by sliding her chair back with an oddly heart-wrenching sound of the squeaking chair. Never taking her low, menacing gaze off the table, she slowly stood to tower above her victims. The other five warriors all said a prayer for themselves and hoped to God that they would not be the first victim.

Surprisingly, instead of lashing out viciously as expected, the angry warrior simply turned to the side and began to walk, as calmly as she physically could, to exit the kitchen. She made zero eye contact with any of comrades, only slightly grazing Crane with her shoulder, causing him to fall onto the ground from the unexpected contact. Crane lay on the ground absolutely stunned...stunned, but still very much still alive, to his relief.

Unable to comprehend how close to death they had all just been, everyone remained paralyzed in silence for another good while. It seemed like they would all be in this position indefinitely, but thankfully Monkey finally managed to break the silence.

"I think I just peed myself."

Apparently, there was no shame in his confession, considering everyone just felt lucky to be alive; though the comment did manage to snap everyone back into reality. Po, actually comprehending everything that had taken place for the first time, narrowed his eyes at his friends in disappointment and growled out

"I hope you all are happy with yourselves."

With those last words, the dragon warrior bolted out of the kitchen to catch the raging Tiger.

After several minutes, Po was finally able to locate his target, nearly stomping towards the hallway that lead to the training room. Po hesitated for a moment, realizing how angry she must have been to ignore her exhaustion and hunger to train once more, but that hesitation was crushed as soon as it came. She was his friend, and he had to help her. He then ran down to the hallway and began to shout for her.

"Tigress!"

He slowed his sprint significantly as soon as he noticed her response to his call. She stopped her movement entirely and her body cringed together as though she had been frightened...or irritated. Considering that this was Master Tigress, Po guessed it was the latter.

"_I really hope this is a good idea_." The dragon warrior then gulped for perhaps the last time in his life and slowly approached the stationary Tiger. Halfway through his walk towards her, the raged warrior turned around to face him for the first time since the event, and Po was honestly surprised by what he saw. He was expecting her to still show signs of being furious over the earlier incident, yet she appeared entirely calm. Truth be told, this expression seemed only slightly more menacing than her usual judgmental stares. Still, Po decided to proceed with caution, because for Tigress, that difference still produced a very dangerous looking tiger.

"What do you want Po." Her voice also caught the panda off guard. She had to still be quite upset from the recent, yet her voice was deceptively just as calm and soothing as he had always known it to be. If he didn't know any better, he would say that she was perfectly calm.

"I just came to apologize for before."

"You have nothing to apologize for. Their actions had nothing to do with you."

"Still I was the one who spilled the..."

"Your apology is accepted. Now please leave."

"It is? Cause...I sure don't feel like it was." Po added very cautiously. "Are you sure you're ok?"

"Leave Po." She commanded in her signature firm, yet gentle tone. "I just need some time to myself."

"Umm, ok...but before I go, I do have a question." Po tried to insert.

"Save it for later." Tigress ordered.

"I'm, um...not sure it can wait."

Tigress blinked a couple of times, wondering what her friend could possibly find so important amidst all of this confusion.

"What is it then?"

"Don't you find it strange...the others I mean. Sure they fight a lot, but recently it has just felt...different. It was as if they were all unusually edgy."

"..."

"I know...stupid idea."

"Your theory does have some merit."

"Huh? Really?"

Tigress looked down at her paw as she continued to speak.

"Emotions rarely affect me. I keep each on a tight leash, anger included; yet over the past several days, I have noticed a significant decrease in my ability to control this particular emotion."

"Soooo, you think there is some weird spiritty artifact affecting us?"

"In so many words, yes. That would also explain the others lack of control."

"Makes sense, I guess." Po confirmed aloud. " So, what do you think that we should do?" Tigress remained silent for a moment in reflection before responding.

"All we can do is wait until Master Shifu returns and hope that he can diagnose the problem. Until then, just limit your interaction with the others, as well as myself."

"Sounds like a plan!" Po responded happily. "I'll just...wait... I just thought of something. How come I'm not affected by whatever is going on around."

"Hard to say for certain, but perhaps it has something to do with the fact that you have found peace within yourselves."

"Woah! This inner peace thing seems cooler ever day. You should so try to get it! Honestly, you deserve it! I don't see how you could act so calm in those situations, and not have peace with yourself!"

Apparently, Tigress took those words as an insult to her pride as she lowered her head, grit her teeth, and spoke in a slightly deeper voice.

"Po..."

"Huh?"

"Run."

"What? Why would I...EEEEKKK"

Po shouted in fright when he saw Tigress re-lifted her head to reveal the most livid expression he had ever seen upon her face. The panda then bolted away in a speed that no one his size should possess, with a very angry feline giving chase on all fours.

"_Guess I'll have to focus on this issue a little later. Right now staying alive is top priority!_" 

That's that. Thanks for reading. Again, I should have the story out for you guys within the next week or so, considering that I already have the majority of Po's side complete. I'll add any further comments at that time. Until then, PEACE!


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Thanks a lot for the reviews guys, and sorry again for the wait. Life really wants me to be slow on these. Know that I haven't given up on them; it has just been taking longer than I would like to send them out, for some pretty major reasons thus far. Anyway, there were still some edits I wanted to make on this one; but I didn't want you guys to wait any longer. May end up redoing it one day, as I feel their is a lot of untapped potential for this type of story (well, that and a general lack of scenery :P), but I hope you all enjoy this story for what it is.

* * *

**Anger**

**Po**

It was a oddly calm day within the Jade Palace. The end of the week had arrived, and as costumed, the five were given the day to rest from training. With nothing pressing to do, Po had planned to go down into the valley orphanage to show some of the children his personal action figure collection, but there was just one problem: he just couldn't seem to find them. He looked everywhere within the palace, double and triple checking every corner, but there was no luck.

The Furious Five, without Po realizing it, had also gotten themselves involved in his toy hunt, but certainly not in way they would have liked to. While they had already found Po's lost toys, apparently, one of the Five had managed to destroy their friend's figures during an innocent little feud. Now, the four warriors, with Tigress watching, huddled together in distress, trying to discuss what action to take.

"Oh man. He's going to find us here any second! What should we do?" Monkey asked in a panic.

"I...I..uh...can't we...maybe, I don't know...fix them?" Crane suggested uncertainly.

"Fix them? Look at these things!" Mantis yelled just as distressed. "There is nothing to salvage here."

"Well, couldn't we just find new ones?" Viper advised.

"Those were hand-carved!" Manits pointed out. "I'm pretty sure he would notice the difference."

"Well, what other option do we have!?" Viper yelled back in a stressed rage.

"Just tell him what happened." Tigress calmly suggested from outside the circle, speaking up for the first time.

"You've got to be kidding!?" Crane asked, actually wondering why the idea was even brought up.

"No." The Tiger responded firmly.

"Tigress, these were his prized possessions." Viper began. "He'd..."

"Hey guys!" The five suddenly ceased their discourse and all turned to face their panda friend as Monkey scrammed to hide what remained of the figures. "Has anyone seen my action fig... ehem...I mean, totally life size collectable wooden carvings of you all?"

"Mn mn!" Crane replied quickly, with a shake of his head.

"Nope!" Mantis answered just as adamantly.

"Nah man." Monkey continued.

"Sorry Po, nothing here." Viper agreed.

"Actually, we..." Tigress began, only to be cut off in a hurry.

"We, uh, we have been looking for them for a while now!" Monkey inserted.

"That's actually what we were talking about when you arrived." Crane added somewhat truthfully.

"Really?" Po's face lifted at the news.

"Yeah!" Mantis confirmed. "We, uh, saw that you've been looking for them, so we've been doing a thorough search of the palace for a while now."

Something about that story didn't quite sit well with Po. He stared at his friends for a several seconds in passing thought, before quickly dismissed the idea.

"Aww, thanks! You guys are the best!"

"Yeah. Hehe, don't mention it." Mantis responded nervously.

"Well, we've got things here. Why don't you back at your dad's shop, just to make sure you didn't leave it there." Crane admonished.

"Good idea! Thanks for looking out you guys! See you later."

Faster than anyone could blink, the panda had zoomed outside the front entrance of the palace to perform one of his famous tumbles down the palace stairs in search for his missing collectables. As soon as their friend's "ouches" were out of earshot, the worried group of warriors to discuss their dilemma.

"I still can't believe we broke them." Viper spoke with a sigh.

"Poor guy is going to be so upset." Mantis added in a similar tone.

"Any other ideas." Crane asked, at a complete loss. Everyone remained silent for several moments before Tigress suddenly broke it.

"This is foolish." Tigress inserted in a firm, emotionless voice, catching everyone's attention. "You all are supposed to be his friends, yet you fear to tell him that you broke his play things? Stop hiding what you've done, and just confront him directly."

"How? Its going to break his little heart when he sees what we did to his figures."

"The results would be worse if he were to find out on his own." She retorted easily.

"I don't know Tigress." Viper responded uncertainly.

"Well, if none of you will speak up, than I shall."

"NO!" Was the simultaneously unanimous answer.

"You can't. He'll freak out!" Crane tried to explain. Tigress rolled her eyes before responding.

"Hiding your sins will certainly not make him feel any better. Its best that you are just straight forward and honest with him."

"But..."

"The only other option is to continue to lie. We are warriors, we face trials head on."

"...All right. Guess we have no choice." Viper conceded.

"I really hope he takes this well." Monkey prayed allowed.

Several hours later, Po returned to meet the others in the kitchen waiting for him.

"I'm back! So, did you guys find them?"

"Yeah...about that." Monkey began with a scratch of his head.

"Well, we, uh, have a confession to make Po."

"Huh?"

"Well, um...just look."

Po gasped in horror as Monkey brought forth the broken bits of his lost figurines. Seeing his childhood broken into a hundreds of pieces before him was too much to bare. Po silently brought forth his hand to take the pieces of his lost possessions from his friends hands.

"I'm so sorry Po!" Viper consoled as best as she could. "We swear it was an accident!"

"I...I can't believe you guys." Po growled just above a whisper, causing the Five's, including Tigress's hearts to fall at the sound of their friends disappointed voice.

"They were in the middle of the floor!" Mantis began to defend.

"It wasn't like we did it on purpose!" Monkey continued. "We would never..."

"I don't care about the figures!" Po suddenly shouted, confusing all of his listeners.

"You...you don't?"

"Well...of course I do...but that's not why I'm so upset! It was sort of my fault after all, but why didn't you all tell me sooner!?" That direct question caused the Five to fall into a guilty silence. Quickly recovering from the shock, Crane responded.

"We wanted to...we really did, but we were just so afraid of how disappointed you might be."

"So you lied instead?" Po asked in an even angrier tone, reigniting their earlier guilt. "You knew where they were this whole time, yet had me go on a wild goose chase to find them instead of just telling me the truth!"

"Po, calm down." Tigress admonished her friend in a soft tone, but Po continued on with a flail of his arms.

"We are supposed to be friends. Aren't friends supposed to be honest with each other? Sure, I would have been upset that you broke them, but no where near as much as I am now! It would have been so much easier if you had just approached me directly than lie to my face."

Awkward silence once again filled the small room, as the weight of Po's words crushed their hearts. Everyone except for Tigress now held their head down in the shame of their actions. The shame became even worse when Po finally lowered his voice, and spoke one thing that screamed more to them anything else that he had said thus far.

"I...I thought you trusted me more than that."

The sinking guilt from their lies finally became too great as the silence prevailed for another moment. Unable to leave things there, each of the Five tried to make out their sincere apology, hoping that Po would accept it.

"You're...you're right." Monkey mumbled while hanging his head lowly.

"We're sorry, Po." Mantis added shortly after.

"We...we should never have lied to you, no matter how bad the situation was." Viper admitted weakly.

"Viper's right. We should always be honest with you, no matter the circumstance." Crane reinforced.

"I should have pressured them sooner. It won't happen again...I'll make sure of it." Tigress ended firmly.

Po kept his reticence for a brief moment before giving a very small smile and speaking up.

"I...I believe you, and apology accepted, of course. Uh," The panda then started to scratch the fur on the back of his head, embarrassed. "sorry for going off on you like that. Its just that after searching for so long..."

"No need to explain." Tigress stopped her friend.

"Yeah. We totally understand." Mantis agreed.

"We know they were special, so we'll do everything in our power to help you replace them as quickly as possible." Viper promised.

"Thanks guys, but I lets worry about that later. Right now, I am starving! Been searching so long, never really got the chance to eat. Anyone up for some soup?"

With the nervousness of the situation over, the sound of growling stomachs that had been attempting to catch the attention of its owner, were all noticed at that one moment. The Furious Five all held their stomachs embarrassed at their uncontrollable display of hunger; but their embarrassment didn't last long, as Po's stomach suddenly made the noise of a boiling volcano, prompting him and the others to break out into a jovial laugh.

"Hahahhah! I guess that's a yes."

"I suppose it is." Tigress replied for the others with a chuckle.

* * *

Meh, not my favorite story, but I hope you guys liked it. See you all in the next one-shot.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Well, out with the next subject. I really enjoyed wrighting the stories for this one, especially Tigress's. You'll see why when I post it. Of course, there are still some changes that I wanted to make on both of them, but can't hold them back from you all forever!

Thanks a lot for the reviews and support you guys. Encourages me to keep sending these chapters out.

Now, on with the story.

* * *

**Fear**

* * *

**Po**

It was an abnormally bleak night at the Jade Palace. Everyone was having a difficult time getting to sleep due to the intense thunderstorm that had been roaring for the past several hours. Originally, the warriors had all retired into their dorms for the night; but after the storm had given each of them hours of sleepless boredom, Po along with the rest of the Five all had the same idea of going into the kitchen for a midnight snack or at least something to occupy themselves until the weather made a turn for the better. They were all a bit disturbed to find that Master Shifu was the only one in the palace that had not been awoken by the storm. Apparently, he was an even heavier sleeper than they had joked about since he was the only warrior within the palace that was still fast asleep within his quarters.

Bored out of his mind, Po had the bright idea of having everyone tell their own ghost stories to pass the time. Eager to find anything to do, the warriors willfully agree, all except for Tigress. She found no absolutely amusement in creating some made up story to scare the pants off of her fellow comrades; but in the end, she compromised to simply sit and listen in, since there was absolutely nothing else to do.

Viper was the first to start, telling a story about some kind of haunted wedding. The others did not find the tale to be particularly frightening; however, the style that Viper used to explain the scenery was particularly engaging, so the warriors war able to enjoy her story none the less.

"Even today, the Violet Bride haunts the grounds of the Tilly Cemetery, ready to bury any man who would dare walk visit alone." Viper finished sinisterly.

"Well….that's one more reason not to get married." Mantis joked lightly.

"I think you are missing the moral here." The snake hissed back in agitation.

"Oh wait, I get it. Don't walk in cemeteries alone!" Monkey retorted while holding back a chuckle.

"You guys are hopeless." Viper barked back.

"Well, I liked it." Po encouraged. "It was pretty scary, especially the part about the whole RED EYES OF DEATH!" The warrior finished with dramatic emphasis.

"Thank you Po."

"So, who wants to go next?" Crane asked, ready to move on.

"I'll go!" Mantis volunteered.

"All right! Lay it on us!" Po encouraged, excited to hear another story. Despite being slightly frightened by what he had heard thus far, he could not help but find some kind of amusement at the possibility of some of these ghost tales being true. While he certainly would not like to experience any of the ghostly pains in person, the panda could not help but wonder if the stories themselves had some truth to them.

"All right. Hope you guys are ready to stay awake throughout the entire storm, cause you won't be going to sleep after this!" Monkey stated ominously.

"Ohohoohhhhhh! This is going to be good!" Po squealed lightly in anticipation.

"Hmm, I doubt it." Tigress muttered lightly to herself, unamused.

"This is the story of the Thunder Imp!" The primate began to narrate darkly. "It was a dark and stormy night, a lot like this one. Everyone within the village was trying to sleep, but felt as though they couldn't due to some supernatural force. They tried and tried to fall asleep, but the storm was so intense, that it kept everyone awake."

"_That's just like us!_" Po realized, his heart beginning to race.

"_Coincidence?_" Tigress wondered sarcastically to herself, comparing the similarities between their situation and the story.

"As time went on, the storm only grew worse and worse until lightening was consistently flashing once every 5 seconds. The storm had become so powerful that every one of the villagers began to shiver in fear. This was the point where things made a turn for the worst….No one could really figure out what was happening, but with every flash of lightening, a huge thunderclap followed that drowned out the screams of one of the villager's dying voice."

"Woah!" Po gasped, amazed at such a concept.

"This process continued for a whole minute before the storm finally calmed down, and the villagers were left to clean up the mess of their dead neighbors. No one knows what triggered the ghost, but he is said to strike in only the most intense of storms."

"It all happens so fast!" Po pointed out. "How would you even know if the Imp is after you?"

"It is said that if a person is to see the silhouette of a dwarf in the one of the flashes of lightening, than he will be the one to die by the next thunderclap." Monkey finished ominously.

"That was freaky!" Po admitted.

"That was lame." Mantis retorted.

"Yeah." Crane agreed. "If you were going to make up something for the occasions, couldn't you at least make it a little less obvious?"

"Hey, I didn't make all of that up." Monkey defended. "I heard half of it from some dude in town a few weeks back."

"Whatever." Mantis dismissed. "It was still kind of week."

"I liked it." Viper admitted. "It was actually pretty clever."

"Yeah, that was awesome man!" Po agreed.

"See, at least somebody has some taste." Monkey retorted proudly.

"Hmph." Tigress refused to speak a word; but judging by her demeanor, she was not in the least bit perturbed by the story.

"Well, the storm is only getting worse. I say we continue. Someone want to relight the candles?" Monkey suggested, realizing how dark the room had become.

"No." Tigress advised. "There is only five hours before the gong is sounded. We should be getting back."

"She's right." Crane agreed. "Besides, I'm actually starting to feel tired now. Maybe we can finally go to….Wow!"

Crane was cut off by the huge boom of thunder that struck. Apparently the storm was now at its climax, as lightening was now consistently lighting the room around every four seconds or so, always followed by an intense boom.

"May…maybe we should just stay here until things calm down about, or at least get the candles lit again."

"Why Po? Scared of a little ghost." Monkey teased.

"Tha…that's not it! It's just…AHHHHHHHHHHH!" A flash of blue light had lit the entire kitchen; and apparently Po saw something that startled him, as he hadn't screamed like that in a long time.

"What is it!"

"Th…th…the Imp!" Right after Po finished his statement, a great boom of thunder drowned out whatever came out of the Panda's mouth.

"Po!" Tigress heightened her senses and took her fighting stance, while the others desperately searched in the dark to find something to light the room. The hard styled warrior certainly wasn't inclined to believe that some ghost was after them, but there was no denying that something was in the room with them.

"Don't kill me ghost! I'm too big to die! …..Wait, that came out wrong. I mean…"

"Panda!" Po suddenly felt a firm smack across his face, bringing him to his senses. Though he couldn't see anything in the dark, he knew that there was only one person who could call him by that name with that particular tone.

"Wait….What the.. Master Shifu!?" He asked frantically while searching around in the darkness.

"What in blazes are you doing here so late at night!?"

"What am I doi…what are you doing here!?"

Around this time, a few of the others managed to re-ignite some of the candles in the room, allowing for much clearer visibility.

"I asked you!….wait. Is this the kitchen? How did I end up here?" The pajama wearing red panda asked himself confused.

"That's what I asked!"

"I believe that I can explain, master."

Tigress, being the most calm out of everyone there, explained the whole situation to Master Shifu, from the mighty storm to his own rather strange arrival.

"I see….I did not realize that I was such a….heavy sleeper." Shifu admitted abashed.

"Forget that! I had no idea that you slept walked! You nearly scared the weight off of me!" Po shouted in annoyance.

"Wouldn't that be a good thing?" Monkey asked mischievously.

"Of course not!" The panda retorted emphatically. "That'd be cheating."

"Ehem," Shifu re-caught their attention. "In any case, I believe that this night has proven to be rather stressful on each of us. I will give you all each a special schedule for this morning's training?"

"Really!?" Po asked, not believing that his master would go easy on them.

"Of course. I'll explain to you how after you are awoken by the gong."

Now that was more of what the warriors were expecting. Po, speaking for everyone else, groaned with anxiety upon being reminded how early they would all have to get up after their weird escapade.

"Ughhh. Now that is something to be afraid of."


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: So here is the other part of the story. Again, I really enjoyed writing this as I was personally affected by a similar situation. If you want to know more, take a look at my Bio (I'll post something soon enough) or PM me; but I don't want to bombard you with my own issues. Anyway, I hope you enjoy the story; and, as always, let me know what you think :)  
**

**By the way, sorry about that false upload earlier. Mistake on my part.**

* * *

**Tigress**

* * *

The Furious Five were finally getting back into the groove of their daily routine after returning from their monumental battle with Lord Shen. The village had finished their extravagant festivals and celebrations over the victory of their great leaders and Master Shifu had restarted his normal training regime for his students. Overall, everything was finally getting back to normal; well, maybe everything, but not everyone.

Master Shifu and Po had begun to notice a subtle, yet notable shift in Tigress's personality. She seemed intensely focused during training sessions, would scarcely ever speak to others even when directly addressed, and it seemed like anytime one of the others would search for the tiger, they'd find secluded somewhere in meditation. Overall, it was apparent that something was off with her. Master Shifu tried to confront her concerning her behavior once, but the conversation proved to be unfruitful.

"Tigress, over the past several weeks, I have noticed an unusual shift in your demeanor. Is something wrong?" The red Panda questioned.

"Nothing is wrong, master. I just have a lot on my mind is all." Tigress responded in her signature, emotionless tone.

"Like what?"

"I'd rather not say."

"Tigress…."

"Thank you for your concern, master, but I'll be just fine on my own."

Things became quite serious when even the other members of the Furious Five began to realize that something was wrong. They all whispered amongst themselves about her behavior and discussed confronting her about it just as Master Shifu, but ultimately knew that it would be fruitless. Whatever it was that Tigress was struggling with, she apparently wished to face it alone. Still, that didn't change the fact that her friends wished to help.

Eventually, the warriors could not take the silence anymore and decided to try and commission Po to talk to her, since she seemed closer to him than anyone else. When confronted with the idea, Po was all too willing to help.

"You guys caught me at a good time. I was actually planning to catch her alone later on." He explained nervously. "Let's just hope that she won't lash out at me and'll be willing to open up."

"You said it." Mantis agreed.

"No matter what happens, we have both of your back, Po." Viper encouraged her thick friend.

"Thanks guys."

That same night after dinner, Po searched around the palace to see if he could find where Tigress disappeared. For a while, he was unsuccessful, but eventually, it hit him that she would likely look for somewhere peaceful to think, far enough away from the others to be alone but close enough not to be forgotten.

True to his theory, he found her sitting under the Peace Tree of Heavenly Wisdom, in the lotus position. It was quite obvious that she was deep in thought, as she didn't even notice him walking towards her yet. For a moment, Po considered turning back to leave her alone as she looked so focused; but his mind quickly changed when he noticed under the moonlight a barely perceptible twitch of her facial expression. That hint of distress settled it for him. No matter how uncomfortable things could be, he couldn't stand to watch his friend in such mental turmoil; thus, he took a deep breath and steeled himself to approach her.

"_Please….let her open up._"

With that last thought, Po continued his walk over to meet Tigress under the tree. Apparently, the Tiger had heard his heavy sigh from earlier as she looked up to greet him when he was but a few feet away.

"Po…." She acknowledged.

"You sure know how to hide! I've been looking everyone for you!"

She blinked in confusion. "Did you need something?"

"Not really." Po dismissed with a wave of his hand. "I just need to make sure that you're ok."

"I see…." Her iridescent irises shifting to the ground for a brief moment before turning back up to face the black and white warrior. "I'm fine Po. Go back inside."

"Come on, Tigress. We both know that's not true." The panda challenged. "Ever since we got back from Gungmen City, you haven't been acting yourself. Something is bothering you."

"Nothing I can't handle myself." She retorted in her familiar stoic tone.

"That's not the issue." Po refuted adamantly. "The issue is that you don't have to! I don't doubt that Master can get you through whatever it is that you are going through; but he left us, your friends, here to help you through it also. Whether you realize it or not, you helped me before to gain my inner peace. Now, let me help you."

Tigress, once again, let her eyes point the ground in thought. She remained silent for several moments, before turning her body slightly and motioning with her hand for the her friend to come sit by her. While Po was happy at her display of trust, he was also a bit nervous. What if he didn't have the answers that she was looking for? What if what he says were to only worsen her mental confusion?

Eventually, Po managed to shake these worries away, concluding that despite all the risks, he had to try for her sake. Tigress was his friend after all.

The two sat in comfortable silence under the peach tree for a several comfortable minutes before Tigress ended the moment with her explanation.

"We almost lost you." She stated quietly.

Po's heart leapt in discomfort as those four words told him all he needed to know.

"Oh…."

"Our time at Gongmen has forced me to realize how fragile life is. You and the other four are the only ones I've ever had a close connection save for Master Shifu. Recently, I just experienced a taste of the pain I'd go through from losing one of you."

"I get it…." Po conceded. After taking a moment to think, Po began to speak.

"Well, honestly I've never really lost anyone close to me either," The Dragon Warrior began in a more serious tone than Tigress was used to hearing from him. "but after learning about my mother's death, I thinking about it a lot more."

"Really?" Tigress questioned, genuinely curious. Po replied with a nod while looking up to the bright moon in thought.

"Yeah. Ever since we got back. In fact, there were several nights that I had nightmares about my dad dying."

"Mr. Ping?" Tigress questioned, to which Po affirmed with another nod of the head.

"Yeah. Some of them were so painful, that I actually thought he was gone for real. Even though it was just a dream, in my heart, he was actually gone; and it scared me."

"I see." Tigress grasped exactly what Po was telling her, especially given her mental battle. "but does your inner peace not allow you to overcome these fears."

"Not really." Po admitted. "I may be naturally at peace, but I still have to deal with the struggles that come. The life of a warrior, right?"

After allowing silence to speak for another moment, she questioned her friend directly. "Do you still fear for your father's life?" Po sat on that question for a bit. He then looked down into the valley below responding.

"Kinda. I mean, I still worry about him every now and then just because he's my dad, but I'm not afraid like I was before."

Tigress raised an eyebrow in confusion before questioning her friend further. "How can you be so nonchalant for the life of someone so close to you?"

Po's eyes expanded in utter confusion. "Nonchawhat?"

"Not worried." She clarified.

"Oh, why didn't you just say so?" Po joked lightly, before regaining his serious tone. "It's not that I'm not worried for him. Like I said, I always worry since he's my dad, but I'm not afraid, if that makes sense. It would hurt me if my dad died, of course; but, I'd have to face that struggle at one time or another no matter what. So I just let the fear serve as a reminder for me to treasure the time I do have with him."

"….Is that time really worth the pain ahead?" Tigress questioned quietly to herself. Catching onto her confusion, Po decided to help her understand.

"Of course it is. I mean, you never knew your real parents, right?" The hardened warrior blinked in confusion at the obvious question. Nevertheless, she answered simply.

"No."

"Well, if you had the choice, would you have gotten to get to know them?"

"Of course."

"Even if they passed away by the time that you grew up?"

"….."

"I know I would have." The panda explained. "It would have hurt losing my mother so late in my life, but at least I would have gotten to know her. The pain of loss is great, but it's nowhere near as deep as the pain of loneliness. I would much rather enjoy the time I have with the people I care about than push them away or constantly worry about their eventual death. Remember what Master used to say? 'There is a time for everything. A time to be born and a time to die. A time to cry, and a time to laugh.' Yes there will be a time when Master will take dad away, and yes it will bring me much pain; but, in the meantime, I will fully enjoy the time I have with him."

"…..but when he dies…."

"It'll hurt, but I'll keep his memory alive by remember the good times that we had, and be at peace remembering Master promise; there is no doubt in my mind that we will all see each other again. Remember who we serve after all."

Tigress turned her head away from her friend to face the moonlight in deep thought. She reflected heavily on what Po had told her, second guessing her concerns from before.

"_Po_, t_he pain of your loss will truly be unbearable…. but perhaps the peace and strength that I have when I am around you will be worth it. Your presence is like nothing I have ever experienced before. This must be the joy of friendship that master told me about, or maybe something more…either way, when the pain does come, it will not be enough to overcome the joy I have for you."_

"…..Po?"

"Yeah?"

The Tiger placed her paw upon the warrior's shoulder and gave him a very light, yet genuine smile. "Thank you."

Seeing his friend at peace immediately brought Po's spirits back to normal as he smiled back, before giving her an awkward, sitting hug.

"Don't mention it." He whispered. "Always remember, we are in this together. You don't have to be afraid."

Despite how uncomfortable the embrace felt as she was sitting, Tigress allowed herself to return it after recovering from the initial shock.

"I know, Po. I know."


End file.
